A University of Melbourne study has revealed that certain breast cancer genetic variants increase mammographic density, confirming the link between mammographic breast density and breast cancer. Professor John Hopper of the University’s School of Population Health says women vary greatly in their underlying risk of breast cancer. “These findings provide an insight into possible new pathways into the development of breast cancer”……..

People living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are known to be at high risk of blood clots when admitted to hospital during a flare-up of their disease but now new research by researchers at The University of Nottingham has shown that those who are not admitted to hospital during flare-ups are also at risk……..

Diamonds and gold may make some hearts flutter on Valentine’s Day, but in a University at Buffalo laboratory, silver nanoparticles are being designed to do just the opposite. The nanoparticles are part of a new family of materials being created in the laboratory of SUNY Distinguished Professor and Greatbatch Professor of Advanced Power Sources Esther Takeuchi, PhD, who developed the lithium/silver vanadium oxide battery. The battery was a major factor in bringing implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs) into production in the late 1980s. ICDs shock the heart into a normal rhythm when it goes into fibrillation……..

Doctors at Rush University Medical Center are offering pediatric patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses acupuncture treatment to help ease the pain and negative side effects like nausea, fatigue, and vomiting caused by chronic health conditions and intensive therapys. The confluence of Chinese and Western medicine at Rush Children’s Hospital is part of a study to analyze and document how acupuncture might help in reducing pain in children and increase quality of life……..

Siemens Healthcare and Vertec Scientific have announced a distribution partnership that will see Vertec exclusively market the X Class range of ultrasound systems in the markets of emergency medicine, GP practices, rheumatology, orthopaedics, acute medicine, chest medicine and anaesthetics. The agreement, which is effective immediately, will see Vertec sell the systems and Siemens Healthcare’s engineers maintain the technology…

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Despite evidence and guidelines supporting the value of screening for this disease, rates of screening for colorectal cancer are consistently lower than those for other types of cancer, particularly breast and cervical. Although the screening rates in the target population of adults over age 50, have increased from 20-30 percent in 1997 to nearly 55 percent in 2008 the rates are still too low. An NIH state-of-the-science panel was convened this week to identify ways to further increase the use and quality of colorectal cancer screening in the United States……..

Children who are particularly reactive to stress are more vulnerable to adversity and have more behavior and health problems than their peers. But a new longitudinal study suggests that highly reactive children are also more likely to do well when they’re raised in supportive environments. The study, by researchers at the University of British Columbia, the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley, appears in the January/February 2010 issue of the journal Child Development…….

The push is on for healthcare providers to make the switch to electronic health records but it is hard to tell how well these complex health information technology systems are being implemented and used, writes a health informatics researcher at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in a Feb. 3 commentary in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association……..

For years, researchers have warned of the possible negative health effects of bisphenol A, a chemical used to make everything from plastic water bottles and food packaging to sunglasses and CDs. Studies have linked BPA exposure to reproductive disorders, obesity, abnormal brain development as well as breast and prostate cancers, and in January the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was concerned about “the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and young children”……..

New evidence that genetics play a significant role in some premature births may help explain why a woman can do everything right and still give birth too soon. Research presented today at the 30th Annual Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) meeting and#8213; The Pregnancy Meeting and#8213; showed that the genes of both the mother and the fetus can make them susceptible to an inflammatory response that increases the risk of preterm labor and birth……..